


Bittersweet

by EnsignCelery



Category: Motorcity
Genre: Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-26
Updated: 2012-11-26
Packaged: 2017-11-19 14:19:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/574169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnsignCelery/pseuds/EnsignCelery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: "The Burners have been having a stressful week, or maybe there was just one too many close calls this time, whatever the point is the Burners are all exhausted and sore and just collapse in a big cozy heap together."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bittersweet

**Author's Note:**

> This did not turn out much like the prompt. It's kind of angsty and sad and almost made me cry~
> 
> Also: Claire is a Burner in this.   
> Because I said so.

Surprisingly, it's usually Chuck that starts it. He's the one that gets the most upset about their missions, the one who is always worried about their safety, and he is also the one that can most easily identify these things in the others. When someone else is close to their breaking point, Chuck is usually the first to notice and, in a surprisingly gentle way, the first one to mention it and to make sure something is done about it.

Texas is the best at it, and they aren't just saying that to inflate his ego. (Like it needs any more inflating, anyway.) Despite how brash and tactless he seems to be, Texas is actually very good at knowing exactly what each person needs when they're feeling their worst. He says that it's his grandmother who taught him, the only person in the whole city of Detroit who was ever truly better at something than Texas.

Julie likes to kiss. She remembers her mother, when she was a little girl, kissing her to make her feel better. Kisses on bruises and cuts when she got hurt, kisses on eyelids when she was crying and upset, and kisses on noses and cheeks and mouths when she just wanted to make Julie smile. At times like these, Julie would give anything to see her friends smile, so she kisses them all as much as she can.

Dutch has amazing hands, which surprises no one. He has enough strength from working on cars and heavy mechanical equipment to give the best shoulder rubs and back rubs and neck rubs (after Texas) that anyone has ever had. Dutch also makes sure to keep his nails the perfect length to keep them from breaking off when he's working and to be able to scratch just lightly enough to give the perfect scalp massages. Julie and Chuck are especially appreciative.

Claire, when she joins in, always knows exactly what to say. Her voice gets softer, her tone shifts to comforting neutrality, and her words are mostly nonsense, but they're the kind of nonsense that each person needs. Chuck is a brave person for staying despite his fear, Texas is a wonderful manly presence that keeps everyone's spirits up, Julie is like the best friend and mother that everyone needs, Dutch embodies beauty and symmetry in both the team and his art, and Mike...

Mike needs these cuddle sessions the most. After every mission, one of his friends is always hurt, or, on the worst of their missions, there is a death or two that Mike always takes personally. He tries his absolute best to protect everyone, to keep Kane from destroying everything and everyone he loves, but he's just one person. He's just a kid. And that pressure, that realization, just gets to be too much, too fast, too often.

Chuck can see it in the wrinkle of his brow, the clenching of his teeth.

Texas will drag him into a hug and compliment him for whatever stupid, yet awesome, thing he had done that day.

Julie will kiss the wrinkles already developing around his eyes and across his brow, humming softly until his eyes close and tears escape his lashes.

Dutch will scratch his fingers lightly through Mike's hair as Texas embraces him from behind, the two of them trying their best to keep their touches the exact pressure to make Mike's face relax.

And Claire, after squeezing a worried Chuck's hand, will rub lightly at Mike's arm and tell him how much his friends love him, how much they need him.

It takes a little while, but they will keep this up until Mike's breathing evens out from small hitching sobs to the quiet breaths of sleep. And the other Burners will curl around him, around each other, their presence just enough to keep the nightmares at bay.


End file.
